Vol. 519 No. 2
112 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the progress with regard to the new Dart carriages in service and those additional carriages due into service; the current capacity of the Dart service at peak travel times; the current peak travel capacity demand; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13734/00]
To date, six of the ten DART carriages have been delivered to Iarnród Éireann and the remaining four are in transit. The new carriages are currently undergoing stringent testing, commissioning and safety validation procedures. Iarnród Éireann expect to have the units in service by the end of the summer.
A further 16 carriages are also on order and will be in service in 2001. The 26 new carriages will be used to enhance existing services and to operate six car train sets. They will increase the DART fleet from 80 to 106 carriages. The current capacity of the DART service at peak travel time is 10,400.
The tendering process in respect of 12 of the carriages proposed under the national development plan has just been completed. The expected delivery date for these extra carriages is 2002. The tendering process has commenced in respect of a further 36 DART carriages.
